No Regrets
by bionic4ever
Summary: TEM2: Everyone has adjustments to make: Oscar to his new legs and the Austins to a new baby. Do they also have regrets? Someone wants to ensure they don't live long enough to regret anything. Thanks to Julie and The Bionic Project for feedback and support
1. Chapter 1

**No Regrets**

Chapter One

Russ was shaking his head as he strode into the office. "Oscar's on his way up, but he said if there's anyone waiting with funny hats and confetti, he'll turn around and go home."

Jaime laughed, jiggling Jenna in her arms. "No funny hats here – just coffee and donuts."

Steve nodded. "And a box of his favorite, imported cigars -"

"Which you _gentlemen _won't be lighting until after I take Jenna home for her nap," Jaime said with a stern look at her husband.

"Yes, Dear," Steve sighed. Their daughter was almost two weeks old, and the whole Austin family had turned out to welcome Oscar on his first official day back on the job.

Russ was also especially glad 'The Big Guy' was back. When Oscar had been badly injured in a building collapse, Russ had done a heroic job of re-coordinating OSI-Los Angeles after the earthquake and then returning to DC to fill the boss's shoes. He was now very eager to give those shoes of authority back to their rightful owner.

"Here he comes," Jaime announced, able to hear the whirring of the elevator's motor as it reached the top floor.

Once the elevator's doors opened, they all heard him immediately. The front desk receptionist in the lobby could probably hear him, too. "Rudy, get that thing away from me!" he thundered, in rare form, even for Oscar Goldman. "I don't need it, I don't want it and I'm sure as hell not going to use it!" His voice dropped several hundred decibels as he passed his secretary's desk. "Good morning, Leslie," he said pleasantly before turning toward his patient companion. "I mean it, Rudy; just get rid of it! Nothing has changed; I'm the same person I always was."

"Even four or five hours is a long time to be here, when you're not used to it anymore," Rudy said, quietly extending the hated cane toward his patient. "By the end of the day, you might be happy to have it."

Oscar's legs had been crushed in the building collapse, and after several months spent recovering his strength and exploring every available option, he'd consented to Rudy's proposed plan and was fitted with legs that were 'semi-bionic'. They were much closer to normal strength than Steve and Jaime's legs, but in many ways, his adjustments would be the same ones they had once endured. Rudy tactfully set the cane against the wall, just inside the inner office door.

Oscar's voice (and face) softened once again when he saw his friends. "Well, hello," he said, almost meekly. He bent down to make very un-Oscar-like googly eyes at the baby. "Hi there, Jenna. I'm sure glad your Mommy brought you here to see Uncle Oscar." As he reclaimed his chair behind the big, oak desk, Jaime grinned at him.

"No funny hats," she told Oscar lightly. "We come bearing coffee and donuts. But if you ever need to talk...you know...about...things, well, we're the ones to turn to, and we know exactly what you're going through. I hope you'll let us help."

Oscar smiled, still unable to stop making faces at Jenna. "Thank you; I appreciate that. Might even take you up on it sometime, but right now I'm ok. Really."

Steve and Jaime exchanged a very quick but knowing glance. That one single comment on his way into the office – that he was the same as always - told them Oscar needed more help than he realized or was ready to admit. In more ways than they could have explained all at once, bionics changed everything.

- - - - - -

Jaime was singing 'Teddy Bears Picnic' on the drive home, while Jenna wiggled her toes and seemed to be listening to every note. "Daddy and Uncle Oscar can have their smelly old cigars," she told her daughter happily, "because we'll be having your bottle, my cup of tea and a nice nap; so much better." She pulled into the driveway and carried Jenna into the house, babbling nonsense rhymes at her with a huge smile and her own version of 'googly eyes', and never noticed the car with darkened windows that sat, silently waiting, at the end of the block.

The car was gone when Steve turned in to the driveway a few hours later. He drove very slowly up the long, gravel incline, admiring the view. The trees that lined the drive were just beginning to sport their Fall colors, but Steve's eye was focused on the front porch, where Jaime sat on the porch swing with Jenna in her arms, blissfully rocking back and forth while they waited to greet him. **His family**...Steve sighed with contentment. Life couldn't possibly get any sweeter.

As his car neared the house, his blood turned ice-cold with sudden fear. Two men were creeping quietly toward the porch, one from either side. Even from a distance, Steve's eye could clearly see the gun each of them held at the ready. He was afraid that if he shouted a warning, one or both of them would shoot and they were much too close to the porch for Jaime to duck the shot, especially holding the baby.

Jaime heard his car, and was rising to her feet when Steve rolled down the window and very softly said "Jaime, take Jenna in the house and bolt the door. Do it now."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Jaime had (surprisingly) not heard her attackers approaching and didn't take the time to look around now. Instinctively, she clutched the baby protectively close to her chest as she turned and reached for the front door. She began to head inside but was stopped by a hand roughly gripping her arm. She whirled around, confused and frightened, just as Steve loudly squealed to a stop directly in front of the house, startling her would-be captors and attracting their attention just long enough for Jaime to make it into the house safely with Jenna.

As quickly as she could, she ran down the hall and gently placed the baby in her crib before heading back to the front door. Her bionics had been temporarily adjusted to normal strength several months before Jenna's birth, though, and realizing she could be of little or no help to Steve, she turned instead to the phone, to notify Oscar. Tears flowed silently down her cheeks at the thought of what might be happening to her husband...

Steve had jumped from the car and immediately charged toward the two intruders, grabbing one by the collar and slamming him into his cohort before they had a chance to react. They staggered right back to their feet, so Steve bashed them together again, more forcefully this time.

"Threatening a newborn baby – _and my wife!_ - you're lucky I haven't stomped both of you into dust, right here!" One of the attackers raised his gun and Steve reacted instantly, kicking it from his grip; the gun went flying through the air and the bones in the hand cracked painfully. "Wanna be next?" Steve growled at the other man, who responded by meekly tossing his gun to the ground at Steve's feet. "Who are you?" Steve demanded, "and what the hell made you think you could attack a woman with a baby?"

Jaime finished her call for help and had just parted the curtains to peer anxiously outside when the sound of a gunshot rang out from somewhere in the trees. She screamed as Steve fell to the ground, and no longer caring if she could fight the intruders herself, she rushed to his side. His eyes were closed in a grimace of pain, and the two men had vanished.

- - - - - -

Jaime sat anxiously in the hallway outside Steve's hospital room, waiting for Rudy to come out and tell her she could finally see her husband. They had been very lucky; the bullet had been halted by one of Steve's titanium ribs before it could do serious damage. It had fractured several human ribs in its path, though, so although he would be in pain for some time, he would recover. As Jaime waited, she cursed her inability to defend herself (and her daughter). She'd agreed with Rudy's suggestion of a temporary tune-down so she wouldn't accidentally hurt herself or the baby during the rigors of childbirth, but now that she'd had a good, strong dose of helplessness, Jaime didn't like it one bit.

She was instantly on her feet when Rudy joined her, and when the doctor noted her pallor and slight unsteadiness he silently wondered if he'd soon have a second patient. "He's pretty out of it," he told Jaime. "I gave him something to help him rest. You can see him now."

Jaime nodded, then paused before going in. "Rudy, I want my strength back."

"We talked about this, Honey," he reminded her. "Your body is still too weak to handle it; you'd probably go straight into rejection. In another month or so, maybe, but right now, we just can't take the risk."

"If Steve hadn't come home, Jenna and I would've been sitting ducks. I couldn't protect my own child!"

"Maybe not bionically," the doctor pointed out, "but I know you; you'd have found a way. Look at how quickly packed her bag and got her safely to your aunt's house."

"Yeah, but -"

"Soon, Jaime. We'll talk about it in a couple of weeks."

"There's...something else, Rudy," Jaime added softly. "I heard Steve's warning – my ear is fine – but I never heard those men sneaking up on us. I think my instincts are gone."

"I doubt that. You've just given birth; you're a little preoccupied, and rightly so." He gave her his most reassuring smile. "You'll be just fine," he said, hoping silently that he was right.

- - - - - -

Jaime stayed by Steve's side, dozing a little but mostly just watching him sleep, until the next morning. She was grateful that her aunt had so much experience with infants; Jenna was in good hands, allowing Jaime to have breakfast with her husband before retrieving the baby.

"Tomorrow, we get to bring Daddy home," she cooed to her daughter as they returned to the house. "I'll bet you miss him as much as I do." For the rest of the day, Jaime was careful to rest whenever the baby was sleeping, as Rudy had been reminding her to do. She spent some of their 'awake' time stocking the master bedroom with extra pillows, blankets and a bed tray, humming as she worked. The binoculars out in the trees never spotted her, since she didn't leave the house.

- - - - - -


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Jaime, you really don't have to wait on me," Steve insisted, as his wife plumped the pillow behind him and tucked the blankets in 'just so'. "You have to rest sometime, too."

"And I will," she said brightly, nestling Jenna into the crook of his arm on his 'good' side. "You," she said, bending down to rub noses with the baby, "keep an eye on Daddy while I fix his lunch." She kissed Steve and gazed fondly at both of them. "I'll be right back."

She returned with a tray that she set next to Steve on the bedside table. He dug heartily into the thick roast beef sandwich while Jaime cradled Jenna in her arms to give her a noon-time bottle. "Oscar called," she told Steve. "He'll be here in an hour – said he needs to talk to us. He had Ballistics run a check on the gun those idiots left behind. I'll bring an extra chair in here for him, so we can all talk together."

"I can talk just fine from the sofa in the den," Steve protested quietly.

"Nope. Rudy said bed rest for at least the next 48 hours. He didn't say sofa rest."

"Jaime -" Steve saw the firm line of her jaw and realized there would be no argument. "Alright," he sighed, "but I'm not an invalid, you know."

"No – you're a man who was shot yesterday – and one who will be staying in bed today." Jenna was falling asleep even as she drained the last of the bottle, so Jaime laid her gently in the cradle on the opposite side of the bedroom. "She can nap in here, so you and I can both listen to Oscar. I know I can't be of much help, but -"

"What're you talking about? Of course you can help; we always need your input."

"Steve, you wouldn't have gotten hurt yesterday if I was able to fight my own battles. I couldn't defend myself, and I couldn't protect Jenna, either. If it wasn't for you..."

"You got the baby and yourself into the house, where you were safe. Teamwork, like always."

"Only this member of the team is lacking most of what she needs."

Steve shook his head, reaching out an arm and pulling Jaime over to sit next to him. "You have everything you need; everything I need, too," he said, kissing her.

Jaime's head rested on his shoulder, and they sat quietly, just being together, until the doorbell rang. Jaime jumped up to let Oscar in, pointed the way to the bedroom and then quickly joined them with three steaming mugs of coffee.

"What'd you find out?" Steve asked, when everyone was ready.

"The gun is Russian in origin; government-issued, no less."

"KGB?" Jaime theorized.

Oscar nodded. "Most likely. But it could have been stolen, mis-routed or any number of possibilities. It doesn't necessarily mean the KGB is after either of you."

"The Russians have been trying to latch into bionics for years," Steve pointed out, "but something this blatant isn't their style."

"Unless they've hired some stooge – or in this case, three stooges," Jaime quipped.

"Right," Oscar confirmed, "and that's our theory. Which puts both of you in serious danger."

"I figured that out when they pulled guns on a woman holding a newborn," Steve grumbled. That's gotta be the coldest -"

"So what do we do now?" Jaime asked. "Can you talk Rudy in tuning me back to full strength?"

"Jaime Lyn..." Steve warned under his breath. His wife might be infuriatingly stubborn, but this subject wasn't open for debate. He shifted his attention to Oscar. "You're in their sights now, too," he pointed out, "if they know."

"That would depend on who their stooge – I mean, their plant – is."

Steve began thinking out loud. "We can pretty much eliminate Williams and Marchetti, since they're dead," he said, recalling their most recent protagonists. "Callahan?"

"She's still in her NSB holding cell," Oscar told him, "out of reach of the KGB, as far as we know, but Russ is bringing her in for questioning later today."

"She doesn't know about your legs, does she?" Jaime asked Oscar.

"No. Only a very small handful of people do, so I'm probably not a target."

"How **are **your legs?" Jaime wondered. "I see you didn't bring your cane."

"I will not use the damned cane -"

Jaime scowled, raising an eyebrow at him. "I swear, between you and Steve, you've got the market cornered on stubborn, macho attitudes, and Rudy and his orders and medical advice don't even exist -"

"Says the woman who wants her strength back a month early," Steve added. Jaime turned, with a scowl for him, too. The doorbell rang again, and Jaime excused herself to answer it. Less than a minute later, they heard her calling softly from the hallway.

"Oscar...can you come here, please?" Oscar moved to join her and found Jaime staring at what used to be a bouquet of flowers, now a crushed and crumpled mess on the floor at her feet. The attached card read "Get well soon, Colonel." Silently, she opened her hand to reveal the tiny listening device she'd pulled from one of the stems. Together, they brought the device back into the bedroom and Jaime handed it wordlessly to her husband, who – understanding immediately – crushed it into dust.

Jaime shivered, more than a little frightened. Her eyes rested briefly on her sleeping daughter before looking anxiously back at Steve and Oscar. "Now what?"

- - - - - -


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Absolutely not!" Rudy insisted. "Jaime, it's _out of the question!"_

"But -"

"_**No!**__" _It had been two days since his patient had left the hospital, and Rudy had stopped by the Austins' house to check on Steve and found himself smack in the middle of a strategy session.

"A month is too long!" Jaime told him, looking to a silent Steve and Oscar for support. Finding none, she continued on her own. "I need it now!"

"I will tune you back to full strength when your body is ready to handle it, and not one day before then. If it takes longer than a month, then so be it. You're talking about risking your **life**!"

"My life is already at risk, and so is Steve's," she argued. "How can I be of any help if I can't defend myself?"

Oscar had been waiting for an opening, and as Rudy and Jaime stared each other down, he found one. "I got a good look at that listening device before we got rid of it, and it was one of ours. Either the gun was stolen, or -"

"Or we're looking for a double agent," Steve concluded.

"Exactly."

"Which is why I need to get out there and work this one! Who knows what these people have already found out?" Jaime added. "If they're looking for me, or for Steve – or even just for bionics information – it shouldn't be too hard for me to find them."

"Forget it, Jaime," Steve told her firmly. "Oscar, what about Callahan? Did she say anything useful?"

"She's clean – or at least she appears to be. She offered to help in any way she can, but I'm not entirely comfortable with that idea -"

"Neither am I," Steve and Jaime added in perfect stereo.

Jaime frowned and began to pace the room as she tried to piece it all together. "You know, they could've grabbed Steve or me – or both of us – the other day while we were waiting for help, but they didn't. Why?"

"Maybe it wasn't a kidnap attempt, after all," Steve theorized.

Oscar nodded. "They may have been trying to get you to use your bionics."

"Why?" Jaime asked. "If they already know we have them...?"

Steve closed his eyes for a split-second before speaking, knowing this scenario was one of his wife's worst nightmares. "Maybe they know, but need proof – something tangible like pictures or film."

"You mean...?" Jaime swallowed hard.

"They could want proof to show potential buyers," Oscar confirmed. "My best guess is that the KGB wants the information and has offered to pay handsomely for it. One of our own people has stepped up to try and claim that money."

Jaime shuddered. "What if they decided to take our daughter as a bargaining tool?" she whispered, sinking down next to Steve on sofa. He enfolded her tightly in his arms, but she wasn't consoled. "That means Jenna's in danger, simply because she has us for parents..." Unable to even think of their daughter in the hands of monsters, Jaime hid her face on Steve's shoulder as she struggled to fight back her tears.

- - - - - -

Several hours later, Jaime had gone from tearful and afraid to very, very angry. The house, by necessity, was surrounded by Level 9 security and she was feeling as restless and trapped as a tiger in a cage. "This is no way to live!" she fretted to Steve.

"It's only temporary."

"Yeah, I know – they'll leave eventually. Until the next time. Steve, are we even fit parents?"

"You're a wonderful mother," he told her softly. "And I'm...well, I'm learning."

"You're doing fine. I just want Jenna to have a normal life – and a **safe **one." Jaime thought to herself for a few moments. "Steve, I don't EVER want her to even hear the "B" word," she finally stated.

"I have never called you that – never even thought it!"

"Not that "B" word – I mean 'bionic'. Let's make sure she never has to wonder what that means because she never hears it – ever."

Even as they made their agreement, Jaime and Steve both knew this was something much more easily said than done. Outside the house, the security personnel stood in vigilant watch. The trees and grounds around the house were secure. The threat had merely set up further down the block...to wait.

- - - - - -


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

One week later, Jaime was growing impatient. "I'm gonna go crazy," she told Rudy and Oscar when they paid the Austins another visit. "I need fresh air, sunshine...freedom!"

"You can go outside," Steve told her. "Sit on the porch with Jenna."

"You mean with Jenna and the armed guards...I'm grateful; please don't get me wrong, but -"

"Why don't we take a blanket out there later, spread it on the grass and have a picnic?" Steve suggested. He was getting around more normally now, and although still in pain it was much more bearable.

Jaime smiled at his attempt to make her feel better. "That might be nice. Let's do it when Jenna wakes up." She grinned at Rudy and Oscar, feeling a little more like herself. "Can you gentlemen stay and join us?"

"We'd love to, Honey," Rudy said, exchanging a brief glance with Oscar before answering for both of them, "but Oscar has tests scheduled for this afternoon – with me. Another time?"

"You've got a deal." Jaime touched the doctor's hand and gave it a slight squeeze as he and Oscar began to head for the front door. Suddenly, instead of letting go, Jaime gripped onto his hand to stop him. "Wait!" The urgency in her voice made all three men in the room turn to stare at her. Her eyes were wide with alarm, and she was obviously listening to something, as she held up her other hand to indicate she needed a moment of quiet.

"What is it?" Steve asked, alarmed by the about-face.

"Something whistling through the air, toward the house – like a bomb!" she exclaimed. She paused for a second, as did the rest of the room, and when no explosion was imminent, began to breathe a sigh of relief. "Maybe I imagined it," she shrugged. Her head cocked to one side as she started to sniff the air. "Steve do you smell smoke?"

"In back of the house," he confirmed. Steve and Jaime both leaped into immediate action. "My God – Jenna!" Jaime cried. The nursery was along the rear wall.

Oscar reached for his datacom at the same instant it crackled to life with a message from outside. "We've got an agent down!" Russ was shouting, "and I've called the Fire Department."

Steve and Jaime returned to the den, with the baby safe in her mother's arms. "We need to get out of the house," Oscar told them. Steve took Jenna from his wife, who seemed to be shaking too hard to keep her grip. Oscar and Rudy braced Jaime up between them and they all hurried out the front door, where they were immediately surrounded by Security and escorted to Oscar's limo.

Oscar sat up front with the driver while Rudy slid into the back with the Austins, quickly assessing that Jaime needed him. She seemed to be fighting off a very rare, un-Jaime-like attack of panic. "Did she breathe in the smoke?" Rudy asked Steve.

"I don't think so. It was just starting to build, and it was outside." With his free hand, he reached across Rudy to touch his wife's arm. "Sweetheart?"

"I'm...ok," Jaime answered. "Rudy, please check the baby. Is Jenna alright?"

Rudy looked at the baby, nestled contentedly in the crook of Steve's arm. Her color was normal, and she appeared to have slept peacefully through the entire incident. "She's just fine, Honey. I need you to try and relax now. Take some nice, deep breaths...good."

"I'm taking you to a safe house," Oscar told the Austins from the front seat. "We'll have Russ bring everything you need."

Steve nodded his agreement. "Thanks, Oscar. Anyone who'd try getting to us by targeting our child is beyond evil; that's just plain sick." His wife was still less than a month from when she'd given birth, and he didn't need Rudy to tell him the stress had begun to affect Jaime's health.

A few minutes later, the datacom came back to life once again. "Yes, Russ?" Oscar answered.

"Fire's out, and the house is ok," Russ said in a calmer voice. "A little scorching of the paint on the exterior wall outside the nursery, but no real damage."

"And our agent?"

"The fire bomb hit him and deflected off into the yard before it exploded; that's likely what saved the house. They're taking him to National – burns and smoke inhalation, but he should recover."

"Thank you. Notify Jack Hansen, and then I need you to pack bags for Jaime, Steve and the baby -"

"Already on it," Russ confirmed. "But I'm not too sure what to pack for Jenna."

"I'll give you to Jaime," Oscar said, handing her the device. He decided that once they had safely arrived at their destination, it was time to fill Steve and Jaime in on the rest of the plan.

- - - - - -


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"That sounds awfully dangerous," Jaime said, frowning with doubt. "Oscar, are you sure?"

"It's only temporary," Oscar reassured her, "and Rudy says I'm up to it."

Rudy nodded. "I'll replace his power cells with nuclear ones; since it's not permanent, I won't have to alter his body's biological systems in any way."

"He'll be fully bionic?" Steve asked.

"Just my legs."

"Oscar, are you sure?" Jaime repeated.

"Steve is injured, you're temporarily out of commission...and it'll feel good to actually **work **for a change, instead of being cooped up behind a desk."

"What about training, practice – just getting used to it?" Steve wondered.

"I'm more than a little concerned with that myself," Rudy agreed, "but I know the two of you will keep an eye out for him."

"Absolutely."

"Good," Rudy affirmed. "I've got the power cells ready, so we'll operate tonight -"

"I'm coming with you," Steve said.

"Me too," Jaime added.

"You will both be staying put, and in the house – THAT is an official order," Oscar insisted. "Rudy will be back tomorrow with an update, and I'll be up and around in a few days. In the meantime, I want you to lay low."

Jaime retrieved Jenna from the bassinet in the back bedroom (the OSI was prepared for all occupants, even – to some extent – infants). She'd slept through all of the commotion and the car trip but was now wide awake – and hungry. Jaime's heart sank as she realized she'd brought nothing with her, in the rush to escape the potential fire, but Steve tapped her on the back and grinned as he held out Jenna's diaper bag, with bottles from the fridge and a half dozen diapers inside.

"That should be enough until Russ gets here with more," he said softly.

Jaime was stunned. "I never even thought to grab it..."

Steve shrugged. "You had the baby, so I grabbed the bag. Teamwork, remember?" He kissed each of his 'girls' in turn and walked Rudy and Oscar to the door. "If we can help in any way..."

"Thanks, Pal," Oscar told him, shaking his hand. "Just take care of your family for now, and in a few days, I'll be back to help **you**, for a change."

Rudy motioned for Steve to follow them outside as Jaime took Jenna into the kitchen. "You've got a datacom, right?" the doctor asked, very quietly. Steve nodded. "Keep an extra-close eye on Jaime. I can't put my finger on it yet, but something isn't quite right."

"Yeah, I'm seeing that too, Doc. I'll call if there's even the smallest hint of trouble."

"And call Hansen or Russ if anything else comes up," Oscar added.

"Will do." Steve waved until the car was out of sight, then turned back toward the house to rejoin his family.

- - - - - -

Less than thirty miles away, a small motorboat had just joined a larger houseboat, to deliver an urgent message. The recipient, Ivan Rudolph, looked ready to throw the messenger overboard to swim with the sharks.

"What the _**hell **_do you mean – they are gone? Not acceptable; find them!"

"I – I already have, Ivan."

"Telling me this is not a result! Bringing me a cyborg – that is a result!"

"I...know where they are," his 'stooge' sputtered nervously.

"And do I see one standing here? NO! You, too, can be terminated!" The huge gun in his hand emphasized his point, and his flunky shuddered.

"I just need a little more time. Seventy-two hours...?"

"You promised me tonight, and you come empty-handed! Now you ask for longer wait?" He cocked the gun with an angry scowl. "Will this bullet be for you – or for a cyborg? Not even caring which one. Just have one of them here in forty-eight hours or you will have no more chances!"

His stooge sighed with relief. "I will, Ivan – I promise. I have a plan..."

- - - - - -

Jaime sang softly to Jenna as she fed her, and the baby kicked her legs – almost in time to the music. She was nearly a month old, and after sleeping through the afternoon's ordeal and the long car ride, she seemed more alert and 'connected' than Steve had ever seen before. The lump in his throat threatened to bring tears to his eyes as he thought about anyone harming 'his girls'. Someone who had no qualms about threatening an infant was ruthless enough to stop at nothing to get what he wanted...

- - - - - -


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Russ brought good news, along with well-packed bags for each of the Austins. "I just spoke to Rudy," he told them, "and Oscar's out of surgery and doing even better than expected."

"That's great news!" Jaime said, handing him a mug of coffee.

"Thanks; I can't stay long, though." He took a long, grateful gulp of the coffee. "Just met with Jack Hansen and now I'm on my way back to Oscar's office. I've got his chair again, until he's back on his feet."

"At least you had a couple days of sanity," Steve chuckled.

Russ grinned for a moment, then turned serious. "Are you two alright here?" He glanced over at the bassinet. "I mean, you three? Is there anything you need?"

"Aside from word that you've caught these bastards," Steve wrapped an arm around Jaime and pulled her close, "I've got everything I need."

"Thank you, Russ," Jaime added. "We'll be fine."

Steve looked at her closely – she still seemed shaky, but he dutifully saw Russ to his car before mentioning it. "Sweetheart," he began, as they sat together watching Jenna sleep, "are you feeling ok? I could call Rudy on the datacom..."

"I'm...a little tired, I guess. Nothing serious; new parents are supposed to be tired."

Steve hoped she was right. "Tell you what: I'll get up with Jenna tonight, and you try and sleep through, ok? C'mon – I'll tuck you in." Jaime gratefully allowed him to help her into bed and, beyond exhaustion from everything that had happened, she was asleep almost before she closed her eyes. Steve stretched out beside her, but he'd just had several days of well-enforced bed rest and was too worried and keyed-up to sleep.

Soon, he was up and pacing. He stared out the window and a few quick flashes of light in the distance grabbed his attention...fireflies, he realized, nearly out the door in his determination to defend his family. It was only fireflies.

- - - - - -

Steve was still awake when, a few hours later, Jenna began to stir. Her routine was already down to a science, and he had her bottle warmed and waiting so Jaime wouldn't hear her crying and wake up. He tenderly cradled his daughter in his arms as she wriggled around then settled in and began to drink. It still took his breath away, just gazing at her; she looked so much like Jaime!

The last couple of months before she arrived had not been easy. Jaime had been restless, almost annoyed, by the cumbersome new shape of her body and her sudden inability to do the things she was used to. Rudy had been very concerned that her body might try to reject the fetus as a foreign object, the way her bionics had been rejected, and had watched carefully for any signs of pain, lack of control or shaking.

**Shaking**...was Jaime in rejection now, or was it really just stress? Steve changed the baby's diaper like he'd been doing it all his life, put her down and covered her with her blanket, then laid down next to his wife. Jaime snuggled closer to him without really waking up, and as he reached out to hold her, he felt her body still trembling while she slept. He tried to tell himself she might be having a nightmare, but his heart knew the truth.

It was almost light out now, and Rudy would be there in a few hours, but this couldn't wait. Carefully, so as not to wake Jaime, he got back up, took the datacom with him into the other room and called the doctor.

- - - - - -

Jaime was still sleeping when Rudy arrived. "She never sleeps this long," Steve told him, more worried by the second, "especially since Jenna was born."

Rudy nodded, already leaning over the bed. Gently, he touched Jaime's face. She didn't stir. "Jaime...?" he said softly. There was no response.

Steve moved closer on the other side and kissed her forehead. "Sweetheart? Rudy's here." Jaime rolled over and moaned, almost inaudibly, but didn't open her eyes. Her tremors had grown more pronounced and shook her whole body, head to toe.

"I'm calling the Medivac," Rudy said grimly. He headed out to his car and returned carrying his car phone and its auxiliary battery pack as well as his medical bag. "They said they'll be here in twenty minutes; I told them to make it fifteen. Make sure your datacom's on; they'll use that if they need landing directions."

Twenty minutes later, with no chopper in sight, Rudy phoned Russ. It didn't take long. "Oh, no..." Steve heard the doctor murmur as he hung up the phone. He turned to Steve. "The pilot was flying low, getting ready to land, and he radioed OSI Headquarters to say they'd been fired on. Steve...the chopper's down."

- - - - - -


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Rudy began pulling supplies from his medical bag as he spoke. "Russ has a team headed for the area where the chopper went down." He moved back toward the bed, where Jaime appeared to be in the throes of a seizure. "I'm giving her two injections," he told Steve, "diazepam for the tremors and a higher concentration of her regular anti-rejection formula."

"Then...it is rejection," Steve said in a flat voice that hid his breaking heart.

"It could be. Of course, without blood tests and a brain scan -"

Out in the other room, Jenna had begun to cry. Steve moved on auto-pilot, gently and tenderly caring for the baby while Rudy tended to Jaime. Once Jenna was drifting back to sleep, Steve rolled the bassinet into the bedroom. "I feel safer keeping her with us," he said simply.

Rudy nodded, still carefully eying his patient. She'd begun to settle down, the thrashing quieted, but her breath was coming in long, ragged gasps and her face was deathly pale. "There's a portable oxygen unit in my trunk," he told Steve, handing him the car keys. Steve bolted out the door, every bionically-fast step jolting his ribs.

When he opened the trunk, the car's rear window shattered and dust flew up from the ground at his feet at the same instant he heard the two shots. He lifted the device from the trunk as he sank down behind the car for cover. Several more shots in rapid succession barely missed him but flattened two of the tires. A brief lull (the shooter reloading or possibly moving closer) was the opening he needed, and Steve dove back through the door and into the house.

"Steve? Were you hit?" Rudy called from the other room.

"No, but the car was." He handed Rudy the oxygen, thanking Providence that at least the door was solid – no glass – and the bedroom had no windows at all. Moving quickly, Steve ignored the pain and pulled the dresser out away from the wall, then moved the bassinet behind it, as extra protection for Jenna. Both men fell silent, listening, but there were no more shots.

"How many people know where we are?" Steve asked while Rudy fitted the oxygen mask over Jaime's face.

"Just Russ, Jack Hansen...and Oscar, of course," Rudy answered without looking away from his patient. Slowly, Jaime's breathing stabilized and the color returned to her face. "Before she fell asleep, was she in pain? Headache, anything you can think of?"

"Not at all – at least not that she told me."

Rudy shook his head. "It doesn't make sense. She'd have to be in full rejection to produce a seizure like that, and there would have been pain...some sort of indication..."

"She said she was really tired."

Jaime began to stir, and just as quickly, she started to fight, pushing the mask from her face. Steve was instantly at her side, grasping her hands as Rudy tried to hold the mask in place.

"No-o-o," she moaned softly, her eyes finally fluttering open. Her head moved side-to-side, purposely shaking off the doctor's hand – and the oxygen. "What – what's going on...?" she whispered, trying to sit up. "Where's Jenna?"

Steve sat on the edge of the bed and eased her back down. "She's right here, Sweetheart. Jenna's just fine."

Rudy leaned closer. "How do you feel, Honey?"

Jaime blinked, squinted and then closed her eyes. "Feel...strange...sorta dizzy."

"Are you in pain?" Rudy asked.

"No. Just...woozy." She nestled herself into Steve's waiting arm and he felt her body go limp.

"She's out, Rudy," he said. "What the Hell -?"

"It's not rejection," Rudy theorized, fitting the mask back over Jaime's face, this time encountering no struggle. "The symptoms don't fit." He looked up at Steve with grim, worried eyes. "I think she was poisoned."

There was no time to digest this information before the datacom crackled to life. "Steve? Jaime?" It was Russ.

Steve clicked the button into the 'on' position and set the datacom on the bedside table, like a primitive form of speaker phone. "Yeah, Russ?"

"I'm coming up the hill now; should be there in less than two minutes."

Steve and Rudy exchanged a questioning glance. Was this the 'stooge' – or the cavalry? They could hear the car's brakes squeal and the slam of the door. Footsteps – at least two sets: one walking and one running. Then – an unexpected voice.

"Drop the gun, Russell." Jack Hansen, too, had arrived.

- - - - - -


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Steve clicked the datacom over to 'listen' and started for the door, doubled-over from the effort he'd already exerted, and Rudy was easily able to stop him. "You're in no shape to go out there," Rudy said quietly, helping his second patient back into a chair.

"But if Russ did this -"

"We don't know that yet," Rudy insisted, turning back to watch Jaime as they listened.

"Jack," Russ was saying, "get away from the door."

"I'm going in."

"Hansen, I mean it; I'll shoot you if I have to. Drop your weapon and get away from the door!"

"I'll have you charged and locked up faster than you can say 'Jack Hansen'," Hansen growled.

"What charges? Preventing a kidnapping – or worse? You're done, Jack. This ends right here. Put the gun on the ground and your hands where I can see them. Do it now."

Rudy and Steve heard the front door beginning to open, then – over the datacom – the sound of a shot. "That was your last warning," Russ said in a low, even voice. "I won't let you hurt them!"

Inside the house, on the bed, Jaime had once again opened her eyes; she was hearing this, too. Steve noticed immediately and was right there, enfolding her protectively in his arms. There was silence for several eternally-long seconds as the two men outside the house faced off in a deadly version of Truth or Dare.

"Try that again," Hansen said through what sounded like gritted teeth, "and I'll blow you away."

"I have to go out there..." Jaime said weakly, making it as far as her feet touching the floor before dizziness forced her to lie back.

"Neither one of you are going anywhere right now," Rudy insisted. "You're in no condition to be out of bed," he told Jaime. "And Steve, you're pushing yourself straight into a serious injury. We all have to just sit tight – and wait."

No one asked what they'd be waiting for; the potential answers were too frightening. If the wrong side won this battle, they were helplessly trapped. The trouble was...who was 'the wrong side'?

The stalemate appeared to be breaking with the sound of more cars tearing up the hill, but as doors began to open, Jack's voice held them back. "Stay where you are – or I'll shoot him!"

"He's got Russ!" Jaime whispered. She tried again to get up, but Steve's hold was firm.

"Where's Goldman?" Hansen demanded.

"That doesn't matter," Russ said defiantly. "I'm in charge here, and you're dealing with me."

"You're a kid! Well, so be it – if you're the boss, then get them out here. _Both_ of them. _**Now**_."

"I won't do that."

"I only want one of them," Hansen declared. "I'll even let them decide which one, and the other can stay with that 'precious' little baby." His voice dripped with acid. "If I have to go in there, there's no telling who might get hurt."

Steve kissed Jaime and struggled to his feet. "He's not gonna hurt you or Jenna," he told her firmly. Rudy and Jaime together were unable to hold him back as he headed (slowly and painfully) for the door, determined to save his family the only way he could. Jaime fell back, weeping, against Rudy's shoulder.

Steve's self-sacrifice was halted when, inches from reaching the door, he heard the sound of something heavy sailing through the air, toward the house. He had no time to react before the door flew inward, broken clean off its hinges, with Hansen's prone body lying in the middle of the splintered mess, bleeding from what was already growing into a very nasty bump on his head. The source of the lump – a good-sized rock – lay just inside the doorway, where it had landed after completion of its journey.

Coming up the sidewalk, with a very satisfied look on his face, was...

"**Oscar**!" Steve and Russ exclaimed at the same moment.

"How did you -? What just happened?"

Oscar handed Russ a set of cuffs to secure Hansen, and shrugged modestly. "I drop-kicked it. Pays to have good aim."

Rudy looked up in shock. "What the hell is he doing out of bed?"

Jaime grinned. "Saving us, it sounds like..." Exhausted (and still very sick), she fell back onto her pillow and closed her eyes.

- - - - - -


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Steve stood directly over Jack, who was groaning in pain as he began to come around. "Before they take you anywhere," Steve said, not bothering to contain his anger, "you're gonna deal with me." Adrenaline kept him from feeling the tearing sensation in his side, and he picked Hansen up by the chain of his handcuffs and slammed his body into a chair. "Now – what did you do to my wife?"

Rudy poked his head out of the bedroom, and seeing the battle had ended, called out "We need a Medivac – fast!"

Oscar raced down the hall. "We've already called one – for _him –_ but if Jaime needs it, he'll wait." Rudy stepped back into the bedroom, and Oscar took one look at Jaime and sank into a chair next to the bed to say a silent prayer.

Steve knew his wife was in good hands, and forced himself to concentrate on getting justice for her – and vengeance. He grabbed Hansen's chin in his hand, a little too hard, and forced him to look up. "Dammit! I asked you a question!"

Hansen flashed a menacing, evil grin. "You take a bullet pretty well, Austin," he chuckled, then winced with pain as Steve picked him up like a rag doll and slammed him back down, breaking the chair. "I'm not the one you have to worry about," Jack gasped. "I'm just...a well-paid...puppet."

"Keep talking," Steve said, holding a threatening position over the sprawled out, handcuffed man. "What kind of poison was it?" Hansen stared mutely at him, and Steve raised a booted foot, preparing to stomp, if needed. "What kind, Jack?"

"I don't know what it was. He – he gave it to me and said to be sure at least one of you took it. I didn't want...a whole rash of poisonings, so..." he coughed and tried to gauge Steve's potential reaction. "I put it in the cocoa in Oscar's office, since..." he coughed again, unable to continue.

"Since Jaime's the only one who uses it," Steve finished for him. "You son-of-a..." He'd never felt as capable of killing another human being as he did at that moment, but stifled the urge, and went on with his questions. "I need a name; who put you up to this? Who paid you?"

"I...can't...tell you that."

"You _will _tell me! And I don't care what it takes to get it out of you!" Steve thundered. He reached down toward Hansen again and was stopped by Russ's hand on his arm.

"Steve, maybe our interrogation team should take it from here."

"Maybe you should just go outside, Russ," Steve told him.

"We need that chopper NOW!" Rudy called urgently from the other room.

Steve left Hansen behind, still lying on the floor, and rushed to his wife's side. Jaime was thrashing wildly on the bed, her eyes only partially open and her back arched in pain. Rudy held a syringe at the ready while Oscar tried in vain to keep Jaime's left arm immobile enough for an injection. "I'll help," Steve told them, scooping her into a tender embrace that allowed Oscar to hold her arm still. Rudy gave the shot and went back to watching Jaime's vital signs as best he could with the instruments he had. Steve brushed the hair from her eyes and whispered words of comfort as the drug took effect. Soon, Jaime's body relaxed as she fell into a deep, drug-induced sleep.

Steve looked up, and Rudy's eyes told him everything he needed to know. The situation was critical. They were very nearly out of time.

- - - - - -

Steve was unwilling to disrupt Jenna's world any more than it already had been, so he bundled her up, had Russ warm a bottle, and took her with them onto the Medivac. The ride was quiet and very tense. Steve sat off to one side, cradling the baby in his arms. Rudy had insisted that Oscar, who had never been released from the hospital, ride along as well, and he sat next to Steve, dozing from the exertion and startling awake every few minutes to see how Jaime was doing.

"Great job today, Boss," Steve told him softly. Oscar gave him a weak smile and drifted back to sleep.

Rudy stayed with Jaime, doing everything that could be done for her outside of a hospital ICU, through the entire flight. Russ had called Headquarters to have the cocoa picked up as soon as they knew about it, and a team of the best available government scientists was already working feverishly to discover the components of the poison and create an antidote. Rudy knew the real battle would be to keep Jaime alive long enough to receive it.

- - - - - -


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Steve, his ribs taped and his bullet wound re-bandaged by Rudy's staff, had insisted on giving Jenna her bottle before reluctantly handing her to two of Rudy's nurses to watch for a few hours while he spent time with Jaime. The still-new life in his arms was an ironic contrast to what was happening in the ICU bed they were sitting next to. The possibility that he might have to raise Jenna on his own had never entered Steve's mind...until this moment.

He could barely see Jaime through the mass of wires and monitors and the huge, ugly tube from the respirator. Rudy had tuned her body's systems down as far as he possibly could, through electro-sleep, to try and stave off the poison's ultimate effect. The scientists had already isolated the main component, but an antidote could still be hours away.

Once the nurses had taken Jenna from him, Steve moved closer to the bed, at one point leaning across to lay his head on the pillow next to Jaime, willing her to have enough strength to hold on because he couldn't begin to imagine life without her.

He didn't notice when Oscar entered the room and silently took a chair beside him. When he sat back into his own chair again and felt the supportive hand on his arm, he fought back tears of worry and exhaustion, but his friend knew – and understood.

"No change?" Oscar asked, very quietly. Steve could only shake his head. They sat together without speaking until Oscar could find his voice again. "I need to throw a name at you, Pal: **Ivan Rudolph**."

_That _got Steve's full attention. "Rogue KGB member; came to us as a double agent right around my second trip to the moon."

"That's right. He worked very closely with Gregory from the NSB, among others."

"He...he's the one who's behind this?"

"We think so," Oscar confirmed. "I just spoke with Russ, and Hansen gave up the name a few minutes ago."

"So, either he never cut ties with the KGB after all, or he's gone independent," Steve theorized.

"The KGB has wanted its own Bionics program since before Rudy was even done testing his theories. Rudolph's goal was to give them exactly what they were looking for."

"Wouldn't a _live _subject be more useful?" Steve asked sadly, looking at Jaime's pale, still form on the bed.

"Yes, but Rudolph may – in some twisted form of reasoning – see you and Jaime as responsible for his friend Gregory's death."

"Williams shot him; we weren't even there! But...I see where you're going."

"Hansen never worked directly with Rudolph – at least, not on an official basis -"

Steve nodded. "But Gregory was Jack's right-hand man."

"Yes, and while Hansen may have shared Rudolph's desire to seek revenge by ending the Bionic program – and killing the two of you – he may _not _have realized exactly who and what he was getting himself involved with. Steve, I need you to stay quiet about this, but I'm going after Rudolph tonight."

"By yourself? Did Rudy release you?"

"No, and -"

"Does Russ know that? Oscar, does Russ even know you're planning to do this?"

"Why do you think I asked you to stay quiet about it?"

Steve shook his head. "You know, you're beginning to sound a lot like me."

"Maybe bionics do that to a person." Oscar got up and stepped to the bed to gently touch Jaime's hand before heading for the door. "I'll get him, Pal – for you...and for Jaime."

- - - - - -

Ivan Rudolph's angry pacing was literally rocking his world, or at least his boat. He'd received word (through unofficial channels, of course) that one of the Austins – the wife – had been rushed to the hospital and was not expected to make it. He'd planned to perform the execution himself, savoring every slow, pain-filled moment of his victory. Where was that idiot Hansen? Well, this could still work, provided Hansen or his hired help were prepared to hijack a body...

Rudolph heard two loud, firm footfalls land on the deck, directly behind him. "You'd better have an explanation and a plan to fix this," he growled, turning around. "You – Oscar Goldman. What do you want here?"

Oscar nearly choked on the lie, even as he spoke it. "Jaime Austin is dead. You win, Rudolph." The Russian was staring at him with such suspicion that Oscar wasn't sure if he was buying it or not, but he had no other choice than to continue. "Mark Russell has driven my agency into the ground; I don't belong there anymore. So...I'm going to help you."

- - - - - -


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"What, exactly, is your business here, Mr. Goldman?" Ivan asked slowly, one hand hovering near the gun in his belt. "Surely you don't insinuate I am responsible for someone's demise? Who is – or should I say _was _- this person?"

"I don't have time for games, Rudolph; neither do you," Oscar said quickly. "I feel the same way you do – the Bionic program was a mistake and should never have been undertaken. Now that it has unfortunately become reality, it needs to be shut down – immediately – and the subjects terminated. You've taken care of one of them for me, and I've come to help you bring down the other."

"You want to kill your own Colonel Austin? Why?"

Oscar shrugged. "It's the only way to cover my mistake."

The Russian smiled and patted Oscar on the back a little too heartily with his beefy paw. "Perhaps you and I do have business together, after all," he said happily, motioning to the boat's cabin and opening the door. "Let's go into my office where we can talk this over."

- - - - - -

Rudy walked in quietly and, seeing Steve still wide-awake at Jaime's bedside, handed him the baby, swaddled loosely in her blanket, and a newly-warmed bottle. "The nurses thought you might like the honors," he said softly.

"Thanks," was all Steve could manage as Jenna nestled into his arms and his emotions threatened to overtake him. "She's so young, Rudy." _Please, God, don't take away her mother..._

It was as though Rudy could read his thoughts; in this case, he probably could. "She's still holding on, Steve, and I'm told they may have an antidote within the hour."

Steve nodded, and Rudy turned to the monitors' readouts. The news wasn't good. The respirator, designed to breathe only when Jaime neglected to do so herself, was doing all of the work now. Jaime seemed to be fading even faster than the scientists could work. Rudy didn't have the heart to break this news to Steve; somehow, he felt Steve already knew.

- - - - - -

Oscar accepted a glass of perfectly chilled vodka and offered Ivan one of his best cigars, then waited until Ivan sipped his own drink before indulging himself with the smallest possible taste. He needed all of his faculties for what he was hoping to pull off.

"Austin will preoccupied, planning his wife's funeral," Oscar said, hoping that wouldn't really be the case, "so the time is right."

"She died from the effects of the poison, I am presuming?" Ivan asked, implicating himself.

"Yes."

The Russian shook his head in anger. "Mr. Hansen was to have brought her to me, under the guise of transporting her to the hospital for treatment. He has disappointed me. I trust you will not do the same."

Oscar tried to make his tone as frosty as the vodka. "Why don't you tell me what your needs are, and if mine are a match, we can do business."

Rudolph poured himself a second vodka and took a long swig before answering. "You have taken great risk to come here. Why is that?"

"Two minds are always better than one, Mr. Rudolph, and I believe our goals are mutual ones."

"But if you want them eliminated, you are in perfect position on your own. Why come to me? You would not be, as you say, _setting me up_- would you?"

It was exactly the wrong moment, so of course, it had to happen. The boat rocked violently as half a dozen stormed aboard. "Ivan Rudolph, you are completely surrounded." Oscar groaned inwardly. **Russ. ** "Come out with both hands where I can see them. _Now._"

_Dammit, I almost had him! _Oscar thought as a beefy arm snaked roughly around his neck, pressing a gun to his head. Dragging Oscar with him as a human shield, the Russian kicked open the cabin door and emerged onto the deck.

"I believe I am calling the shots here, Mr. Russell," he snarled.

- - - - - -

Steve handed Jenna back to the nurses once she was asleep, and spent his time alternately praying and sitting beside Jaime, holding her hand and trying to will his strength into her body and her soul.

"We've got it!" Rudy announced, flying past him and rapidly injecting a substance into Jaime's IV tube.

Now the real waiting would begin. No one spoke as they both watched Jaime for any sign of a reaction. Very slowly, after several tense minutes, her head began to move back and forth on the pillow, as though she was trying to free herself from the respirator. She took one breath of her own, then another, then...the machine took over again and Jaime was still.

- - - - - -


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"It takes time," Rudy said softly, placing a paternal hand on Steve's shoulder before double-checking Jaime's stats and then motioning Steve into the hallway.

"What was it?" Steve asked, turning around so his eyes never left his wife's face. "What'd they give her?

"A very intricate, very _deadly_ combination. The first two substances acted immediately, draining her strength and giving her mild, flu-like symptoms. They served to weaken her system in preparation for the stronger, slow-acting poison's effects."

"So when Jaime complained about feeling weak, it wasn't just that she was tuned down..." Steve realized.

"No, it wasn't. We all thought she was just being impatient, but her body was trying to tell us something."

"What happens now?"

"Now...it's up to Jaime," Rudy told him. "The antidote acts almost immediately, but whether she'll be able to overcome the poison's effects – and whether there is any permanent damage – remains to be seen."

"How long until we _know?_"

"If she's going to rally, we should hopefully see some signs of that soon, within the next hour or two. True recovery...it's very hard to say. Once Jaime shows a more consistent breathing pattern – _if _she does – we'll remove her from the respirator, on a trial basis at first."

"If?"

"I'm sorry, Steve, but things may have progressed too far for Jaime to pull out of it. We're not giving up on her, not by any means, but her condition is still extremely critical."

"I understand," Steve said numbly, beyond grief as he returned to Jaime's bedside to continue his vigil.

- - - - - -

"Oscar?" Russ gasped, shocked to see him out of the hospital and...here. "What the -?"

Rudolph chuckled. "Perhaps you spoke the truth, after all," he growled to Oscar. "We shall soon see. Send your men away, Mr. Russell; you'll be staying on board." Russ turned and gave a brief nod to his team, who left the boat and returned to their cars. "Very good. Now, drop your weapon onto the deck."

With no other choice, Russ complied. Rudolph released his hold on Oscar's neck but kept the gun firmly pressed to the back of his head. "Now, Mr. Goldman, you will show this visitor into our office."

Wordlessly, Oscar opened the cabin door and Russ stepped slowly inside. "There is rope in the drawer beneath the liquor," Ivan continued. "You will use it now to secure him to that chair." No one moved, and Oscar felt the gun barrel pressing harder into the soft flesh just above his neck. "As you told me, Goldman, I have no time for game-playing. Make sure you do it right."

Oscar's eyes briefly met Russ's, and the boundaries of 'boss' and 'subordinate' blurred and disappeared, since (for the moment) neither one of them was in charge. Oscar reluctantly bound the younger operative's hands and feet, tightly enough to pass the Russian's inspection while still allowing circulation.

"You've done well," Ivan told him, still keeping him at direct gunpoint. "Now...since I am certain you would not come here unarmed, take your gun out, Mr. Goldman." Oscar did as instructed, pointing it downward toward the deck. "Alright, if our objectives are, as you say, the same...**shoot him.**"

- - - - - -

Jaime was beginning to take a few shallow, shuddering breaths on her own, only to have the machine kick back in each time, as she'd quickly become depleted. It still wasn't enough of a rally, and Steve knew it. Rudy headed down the hall to bring back some coffee, so Steve could have a few minutes to be alone with his wife...and to think.

Steve moved as close as he could get to her among the mass of wires and tubes and brushed a tear from his eye as he leaned in to give her a soft, tender kiss. "Hey, Sweetheart," he whispered, his voice nearly breaking, "I'm so sorry I didn't pick up on what you were trying to tell us. You probably didn't know what it was, either, but you knew something was wrong, and I wish to God I'd been able to see that." He sank down into the bedside chair, still holding her hand in both of his.

"I love you so much, Jaime; I **need **you. And...Jenna needs you. We need you to hold on and to fight." He looked up to see a nurse hovering at the door with Jenna in her arms, and Steve nodded, reaching out for the baby. As the nurse left the family to themselves, an idea struck him. Carefully, he placed the baby on the bed, snuggling her into the space between Jaime's body and her left arm. "Please, Sweetheart...come back to us," he pleaded, scarcely daring to breathe himself.

Jaime's arm quivered slightly, and, very slowly, her hand moved to pull their daughter closer. Love and maternal instinct were an irresistible force that did what medicine alone could not, and, finally, Jaime opened her eyes.

- - - - - -


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"Hi there," Steve said as he ran his fingertips gently across Jaime's forehead, smoothing the hair from her face and lingering in a tender caress. "Welcome back."

It took several moments for Jaime to adjust to the bright lights of the ICU, and a few more for her mind to take in the maze of wires and machines that surrounded her. Her eyes grew wide with fear and confusion, and Steve softly began to answer the questions she couldn't ask.

"Shh.." he soothed. "You won't be able to talk right now. You're on a machine that's helping you breathe, so you can put all of your energy toward getting well." Jaime's eyes grew wider still, and began to fill with tears. "You're gonna be OK," he added.

Rudy, returning with the coffee, was soon smiling as broadly as Steve. While Jaime's doctor checked and double-checked her over from head to toe, her husband propped Jenna up in the crook of her arm and fed her a bottle.

"Absolutely amazing!" Rudy exclaimed, stunned at Jaime's rapid return.

"She's an amazing woman," Steve agreed, winking happily at his wife.

- - - - - -

"**Amazing**!" Rudolph spat in disgust. "The OSI's two top men have crossed their signals. I offer one a way out, and he doesn't take it. Maybe you should be the one in the chair, Mr. Goldman? I wonder if Mr. Russell would have courage – or stupidity – enough to carry it off? No matter; I will take care of both of you myself!" He ripped the gun from Oscar's hand, used both of his beefy, over-muscled arms to throw Oscar to the floor, then leveled his own weapon at Russ.

The OSI Security team had emerged from behind their cars but continued to keep their distance, ready to move in at any second – and they did exactly that when one lone gunshot shattered the air, followed only by a deathly silence.

- - - - - -

Steve nearly paced a trail in the floor outside Jaime's room as he bounced the baby lightly in his arms and waited for Rudy's verdict. Jaime had stayed with them for nearly five minutes before fading back to sleep in total exhaustion. She was pale and still very weak, but seemed to be holding her own. The doctor was removing her from the respirator, in an attempt to see if she had the strength to keep going.

In his mind's eye, Steve could see the major milestones in Jenna's life: her first date, the prom, high school graduation, then college and her wedding. In each scene, Jenna was growing stronger and more beautiful, just like her mother, and in every one, Steve saw himself with Jaime at his side. Any other alternative was unimaginable...unacceptable – and wrong. The baby in his arms looked up at him with such a comfortable, perfect sense of trust that it tugged at Steve's heart.

_Please, God, _Steve thought to himself, _for Jenna..._

Rudy emerged, exhausted but triumphant. "She's off the respirator," he announced. "Jaime's breathing on her own!"

Steve returned to his wife's side while their doctor took a long swig of strong, black coffee. He watched the family from the doorway, knowing his nurses had their eyes glued to the remote monitors, watching for the slightest change in Jaime's condition.

Jaime was barely awake, but she was smiling as she rested, cradled in Steve's arms with the baby in her lap. Although she was still barely a month old, even Jenna appeared to be smiling. For now, neither adult was talking; it was enough to simply be together, alive and _safe._

Before Rudy could rejoin the Austins or find a chair for a few minutes of well-earned rest, his assistant ran up to intercept him.

"We just got a radio transmission from OSI Security," he exclaimed. "They're bringing two injured patients to the ER, arrival in ten minutes...and they also have a fatality."

- - - - - -


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"What happened next?" Rudy probed as he removed the last shards of glass from Russ's shoulder.

Russ was a well-trained observer of the smallest details, and even he was having trouble sorting out the maelstrom of events that seemed to have happened all at once. "Oscar went down, and the gun went off and shattered the window behind me. I heard another noise that I remember from when I broke my arm in high school; a snapping – and only a bone sounds like that."

"Rudolph's leg," Oscar confirmed from a nearby wheelchair. "I was aiming for his kneecap but got the top of his shin."

"So Rudolph fired just as you took him down -" Rudy summed up.

"No," Russ told him. "Rudolph never fired a shot."

Rudy frowned. "Didn't you say he made you drop your gun – and he took Oscar's?"

"That's right."

"Then who -?"

"Thompson from the FBI was approaching the boat from the front, in a dinghy," Russ explained, "and he and his informant climbed aboard when Oscar had just finished tying me up."

Oscar continued the story. "The shot was meant for Rudolph, but I knocked him down. The bullet took out the window instead; barely missed Russ's head."

"Thompson was lucky," Rudy surmised.

"Thompson didn't fire, either," Russ told him, almost teasing now, as he and Oscar exchanged a knowing glance and a slight smile.

Rudy sighed in exasperation. "So then _who fired the gun?"_

"Callahan," Oscar said, only making him wait a couple of extra seconds first.

_"Callahan?"_

"She was the one who told me where to find Rudolph," Russ stated, "and Thompson must have decided to take her along for extra input. Anyhow, she saw my gun on the deck and grabbed it. She fired the shot, trying to save us from Rudolph."

"Pretty fast for someone lacking the power of cybernetics," Oscar quipped.

"Alright, I must have missed something here," Rudy said, finishing the bandage on Russ's shoulder and _finally_ sinking into a chair. "If only one shot was fired and it went out the window, then what happened to Rudolph?"

"He's a big man – or rather, **was **a big man," Oscar began, "and when he fell, he hit the wall of the cabin. The display case next to him broke open, and his prized sword and saber collection fell right on top of him. A couple of them fell blade down."

"Killed by his own sword," Rudy said, finally getting the entire picture. "Pretty fitting, I'd say."

- - - - - -

Oscar and Russ sat together, drinking coffee while they waited to be signed out of National's Emergency Room. "Now I know why Steve gives you such fits sometimes," Russ commented.

Oscar smiled. "That a fact? Did I give you one today, Boss?"

"Just a small one – somewhere along the lines of apoplexy," Russ chuckled. "And please don't call me Boss."

"Alright, Chief; whatever you say."

"Oscar, if I'm in charge, then I have to read you the Riot Act for what you did today. I'd rather shake your hand and say 'Great job'." The two men toasted each other with paper coffee cups, then shared a much less business-like, far warmer handshake than usual; two close brushes with death in less than 48 hours had bonded them with a mutual respect and admiration they'd seldom known before.

"You know," Oscar reflected, "ever since I got these legs, I've been wondering if it was a mistake..."

Russ raised an eyebrow, a sign that he was listening. This was the first time Oscar had mentioned these doubts to anyone, and he wasn't about to interrupt.

"Yesterday, at the safe house, they certainly did prove useful," Oscar concluded.

"So you're glad, then? You don't regret letting Rudy work his magic?" Russ looked up and noticed Rudy waiting on the other side of the doorway, just out of Oscar's line of vision; he needed to hear the answer, too.

"Not anymore. I don't think I ever really regretted it; it was more of a question of the OSI getting its money's worth," Oscar said slowly.

"You saved half a dozen lives yesterday," Russ pointed out, "including your own. I'd say your decision paid off, six-fold. Oscar...are you planning to keep the stronger power cells now?"

"I don't think so; they'll always be available if the need arises, but my place is at my desk, running roughshod over the likes of you, Russell."

Russ grinned with his whole face. "That's the best news I've heard all day...Boss."

- - - - - -


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue

Steve sat back against the big, old oak tree with his hands behind his head, watching 'his girls'. _The only thing more beautiful, more perfect than this day_, he thought, _is Jaime's smile_. It was Jaime's first full day out of the hospital, and she danced happily across the sun-dappled lawn with Jenna in her arms. The baby, nearly two months old now, turned her head to look up at her mother's face with hazel eyes that were so much like Jaime's that it took Steve's breath away.

"She's smiling, Steve!" Jaime called to him, grinning herself.

"Seems to be the order of the day," he agreed, sporting one of his own. He extended an arm, and Jaime joined him on the grass, sparkling with joy.

"We're gonna be good parents, after all, aren't we?" she said softly.

"We always were; did you have any doubts?"

"Well, I really hate the idea of Jenna ever being in danger simply because of who her parents are..." Jaime told him.

"But who would be better suited to protect this little munchkin than the two of us?" he asked, tickling the baby's foot and kissing his wife.

"You do have a point, Colonel Austin."

"And -" he couldn't resist one more taste of her lips, "if we can't be there, she has the world's greatest extended family to lend a hand."

Jaime laid the baby beside them on her blanket, and both parents glowed as they looked at her looking back at them. "Our best work," Jaime sighed contentedly. She leaned into the crook of Steve's arm, resting her head on his shoulder. "Think she'll be an only child?"

Jenna, who'd had a full day already and was ready to change gears, screwed up her face and began to wail.

Steve chuckled. "Ask me that ten minutes ago."

Jaime's nose crinkled slightly, and she laughed out loud. "The nurses told me what a loving, capable Daddy you were while I was so sick," she began.

"I did the best I could; Jenna and I really got to know each other."

"Well, here's a chance to bond some more," she said lightly as she handed him a diaper. "Happy parenting!"

Steve's heart felt even fuller than the baby's diaper and his smile never wavered; with his two 'best girls' beside him, he knew he could tackle even this chore with the greatest joy.

END


End file.
